I’m just sitting here doing some work and I have “Little Big League” on TV. After 12-year old Billy inherits the Minnesota Twins, he proceeds to fire the manager. Then, while playing horseshoes with his friends, this conversation occurs…

Joey – “Who you gonna get to replace O’Farrell?”

Billy – “I don’t know. Whitey Herzog turned us down, same with Valentine. None of the good guys want to work for a kid.”

Joey – “You should do it!”

Billy – “Yeah, right. Get real!”

Joey – “No, you get real. You’d be great!”

Billy – “You know how hard it is to manage?”

Joey – “It’s the American League. They’ve got the DH. How hard could it be?”

That’s awesome! What a great quote. I just love the DH rule, don’t you?

With Karilee in town visiting, Karilee, Kim and I drove down to Miami yesterday to see the Phillies play the Marlins in their home opener for the season. Here are some thoughts from the Phillies 8-2 win…

1. The Phillies bullpen stinks. I was so glad the Phillies added three extra runs on the home run by Pat Burrell in the top of the seventh, allowing Papa Charlie to run out Jamie Moyer probably an extra inning longer that he would have in a close game. Something has got to be done about this if the Phillies hope to be real contenders.
2. Joe Robbie Stadium, err, Pro Player Park, err, what is it these days, oh yeah, Dolphin Stadium is a joke for baseball. Having now attended a Marlins home game, I get their fight for a new stadium. Now, personally, I think that stadium financing should be a private endeavor (under most circumstances) as I don’t think that average taxpayers should be building stadiums for billionaires. But, with that said, they do need a new park. Concessions were a disgrace (Karilee and Kim stood in line for 3.1 innings, over an hour, for chicken strips and fries!), but matched the poor quality of the park.
3. We attended the most crowded game of the year for the Marlins. An announced attendance of 40,397 will be cut in half for tonight’s game, as well as every other game this year. There will be (many) 3 game series this year where they don’t get 40,000 in attendance.
4. Let’s return again to Pat Burrell’s home run. It was the top of the 7th with a runner on base and Ryan Howard comes to the plate. Intentional Walk. That will happen all year, unless… unless this home run from Pat Burrell is the sign of things to come. If he can hit a couple of home runs immediately following intentional walks, teams will rethink the idea of walking Howard. And a successful, home run hitting Howard is vital to this team’s success.
5. And finally, for all the smack talking from Jimmy Rollins and others on this team did during the offseason, getting swept at home was not the way to start. While it was great to get a win, this team needs to remember the message of past Aprils. You can’t win a pennant in April, but you can lose one. The 10-14 record during April each of the past two years has come back to bite them in September. If this is going to be the year the Phillies return to October, then they need the fast start they always talk about and never actually deliver.
6. (Updated) Fly-By’s Rock!  As we were walking up the ramp toward our seats, 3 jets flew by.  The whole building shook!  Kim was so scared, she literally jumped.  It was awesome!

Yesterday I had the cool opportunity to work as a Line Umpire for the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida. I have worked a couple of “minor league” professional events, but it was the first time I got to work a tour level event. Venus Williams plays her first round match in the tournament tonight.

I have a lot to learn as a line umpire, but people continually comment that they think I could be really good if I work at it. While I’m not sure I have the time for that, it is enjoyable (and hey, I got a cool Nike dry fit polo and Nike tennis shoes out of the deal!).

This past weekend, Kim and I attended Family Life’s Weekend to Remember, a gift we received from Kim’s parents. We are very appreciative of the gift as the weekend provided a wonderful opportunity to slow down and enjoy time together in the midst of what has been a busy stretch.

I did take away one particular comment that I heard from the weekend. In discussion of both personal holiness and children the comment was made, “Become who you want your children to be.” Wow, that’s cool. Children often turn out very similar to their parents. So am I the person I would want my kids to be?

Over the last couple of weeks, Philly fans have learned hard lessons in “finishing well.” The Eagles blow out the Giants for three quarters, forgetting that it is not officially a victory until four quarters have been completed. They proceeded to give away a game to the defending divisional champs. Instead of burying the Giants season in week 2, the rest of the division is just one Eagles slip away from being back on top of the standings. They didn’t finish well.

But what I have seen from the Phillies over the last couple of weeks is even more painful. Each of the last four seasons the Phillies have been right in the midst of the Wild Card chase. There, dangling before them, was a trip to October baseball, the Promised Land. Even more, with one week remaining in the 2003 season and one week remaining this year, the Phillies actually sat atop the Wild Card standings holding one game leads. And all four of those seasons, the Phillies were at home watching baseball (or football, as Ryan Howard was at the Eagles game last night) on TV come October. This year’s collapse particularly stood out in my mind. As much as I wanted to buy into the excitement of the playoff push, actually watching games was very sobering. I knew the Phillies wouldn’t close the deal and make the playoffs because they couldn’t close the deal and win individual games. In the last three weeks of the season, the Phillies had at least two games (remember, I’m in Florida and don’t get to see every game) where the Phillies relievers blew not one, but two saves in the same game. How many chances does a team get? When a team holds leads in both the 9th and 10th and blows them both times, what outcome do you expect? The Phillies did not finish those games well. And, as a result, they didn’t finish well the season. And now they are at home.

As I’ve considered the collapses of both the Eagles and the Phillies, I have also wondered about the spiritual implications for my life. Consider these words from 1 Corinthians. “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (9:24-27). I particularly remember one Sunday at church while I was in college. At the close of the service, the pastoral staff and elders came on stage and read a letter from the previous pastor who, since leaving the church, had been serving with missions to Russia. In that letter, the pastor confessed to an ongoing affair he had with a mistress in Russia. I can’t help but think that while many had come to faith in Christ because of his preaching, yet he himself has been disqualified for the prize.

The Eagles looked like victory was guaranteed, only to fall apart in crunch time. The Phillies were in the race, but they arrived at the finish line only to find others had arrived before them. While God is a compassionate God who is quick to forgive (and for that pastor, forgiveness and restoration did follow), I am going into strict training because I don’t want to be disqualified. I am asking hard questions of myself. To what sins do I need to protect myself at all cost? What training regimen have I adopted to prepare me for the race? How is my prayer life? What am I reading? What am I filling my mind and heart with? How am I using my time? Am I caring for my wife? Am I helping her prepare for the race? Am I sharing my struggles with her? Am I fostering intimacy with her?

At Christ’s call, I have given myself to the service of Christ. I’m going to beat my body into submission “so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” I’m not going to be sitting at home when the playoffs come. I am going to finish well.

I guess in some ways I am just a masochist.  On my computer I have a widget called the “Cheesesteak of Suffering.”  As I type this, the counter stands at 8528, 11 hours, 47 minutes and 42 seconds since the Sixers won the 1983 NBA championship.  Again, I’m not even sure why I have it on my computer since all it does is remind me that since I’ve been old enough to be a sports fan, Philadelphia has not won even a single major sports championship.  I have never felt the jubilation of running into the streets to celebrate a championship.  In fact, my deepest sports passion is for the losingest team in professional sports history, the Phillies.  The Phillies have lost 9954 games in their history which dates back to 1883.  That means that sometime next year the Phillies will lose their 10,000th game!  In 123 years, the Phillies have won exactly one World Series while the Marlins have won 2 World Series since their inception in 1993.  With 5 games left this season, the Phillies sit at 7 games over .500 meaning that this will be the 26th time since 1918 the Phillies have finished the season with a winning record.  For reference, the Yankees have won that many World Series in that time span!

Two years ago that painful streak of championship-less seasons almost ended for Philly fans.  The Eagles made it to the Super Bowl (mind you, for only the second time since in the then 39 years of the Super Bowl).  With the nearly miraculous recovery of their star receiver, I was actually thinking the Eagles would win.

They lost the game and, well, we all know what happened after that.  That star receiver, T.O., lost his mind.  He fired his agent and hired Drew Rosenhaus to get him a new deal with the Eagles.  The Eagles wouldn’t budge (why would they just one year into a 7 year contract?).  After being suspended four games and deactivated for the remainder of the season, they let him go.  He promptly signs on with a team that he had very publicly scorned and mocked just a few years earlier when with the 49ers.  Every 49ers and every Eagles fan knew that his self-centered, self-glorifying, me-first attitude would destroy the Cowboys as he had his former teams.  But no one, myself included, foresaw what happened last night.  Apparently, he was so depressed that he attempted suicide by overdosing on prescription pain medication.  When asked by police if he was attempting to harm himself by taking the pills he simply replied, “Yes.”

He has now been released from the hospital and I’m sure over the next several days we’ll find out more about what really happened, but this incident really got me thinking.  Here is a guy who has everything this world can possibly offer.  He is incredibly gifted and skilled at his profession.  He is wealthy beyond comprehension.  He is famous (infamous even?).  But it’s just not enough.  I’m reminded of Britney Spears song “Lucky”.  The song is about a beauty queen who, upon winning a pageant, is lauded by the world for her looks.  She is famous, wealthy, popular and beautiful.  Then come the telling words of the chorus.  “If there’s nothing missing in my life then why do these tears come at night?”  That song betrays the myth of fame.  Being famous, wealthy, good looking, popular and skilled can cover a lot of shortcomings.  But they can not bring meaning to a desperate soul.  They can not bring life to the dying.

Only in Jesus Christ can the dead be brought back to life.  Only in Jesus Christ is there hope for the hopeless.  Only in Jesus Christ is there joy and meaning and purpose.  We put celebrities (especially athletes) on a pedestal, longing to be like them and to have what they have.  But apart from Jesus Christ, everything they have is perishing.  Like chaff in the wind, it will all pass away.  James 1:10-11 declares, “But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.  For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed.  In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.”

Terrell Owens, as a Philly sports fan, I am hurt at the way you scorned our city.  But I pray that you would find what you are looking for in Dallas.  I don’t think it will be on the football field.  I don’t think it will be in your bank account.  I don’t think it will be in the bedroom.  I don’t think it will be in front of the camera.  Those things will all fade away.  I hope you hear the words of 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.”  TO, not everything in life will pass away.  Some things will remain forever.  I pray that God will reveal himself to you in this painful time of life that you might turn to Jesus Christ for life.  Because only in him are the things that last forever.

Update: Even if T.O. did not overdose on pills, he still has some serious issues and needs our prayer.